


Haul 'Em Away

by GemmaRose



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Alternate Universe - Cyberpunk, Alternate Universe - Dystopia, Alternate Universe - Pirate, Alternate Universe - Solarpunk, Captain Allura, F/F, Gender-Neutral Pronouns for Pidge | Katie Holt, Hacker Pidge | Katie Holt, Pidge | Katie Holt Swears Like a Sailor, Pining, Sailing, Underage Drinking, i didn't know that was a tag and im VERY HAPPY IT IS
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-02-24
Updated: 2019-02-24
Packaged: 2019-11-04 18:16:05
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,463
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17903111
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/GemmaRose/pseuds/GemmaRose
Summary: Pidge likes to say they were born into the rebellion, and from the length of their record most would believe that. Until their city cracks down, and their 'net signature is being hunted, and the only way to protect the people they love is by getting out to let things calm down. But with all entrances and exits being monitored, and the net of law enforcement closing in, all seems lost. Until the notorious pirate ship Defender sails past the breakwater. After that, things go... a little sideways.Written as part ofAltea's Valentines Exchangeon tumblr.





	Haul 'Em Away

**Author's Note:**

  * For [adverbialstarlight](https://archiveofourown.org/users/adverbialstarlight/gifts).



> Is this a shamelessly self-indulgent AU so I have an excuse to write tallships? Yes. Yes it is.

Pidge swore under their breath, fingers flying across the holographic keyboard projecting from their bracers. Birth certificate, gone. School records, gone. Social media, extra gone. They couldn't get at their criminal records, not without significantly more time and tech, but they could jam a whole bunch of malware into the cops' system through that one backdoor that never got fixed and hope their records went with the purge. That, plus the scrubber program they'd set loose when the crackdown started, _should_ serve to protect everyone who might be hunted down for the crime of knowing them.

“Platte City's Most Wanted sounded a hell of a lot better a week ago.” they muttered as they deactivated their keyboard and screen, pressing tighter against the crate they were hiding behind as jackbooted footsteps marched closer. They twisted their wrists, priming the rings on their fingers to generate their signature electrified grappling-blades. It wouldn't be their first count of assaulting an officer, but hopefully- their thoughts were derailed by a commotion from the shore, and they startled as a blazing ball of golden-blue light punched through the edge of the shipping container in front of them to embed itself in the next one over.

Turning to track where the projectile came from, their mouth fell open. Golden sails glided into the bay, ever closer to the shore, and another blast from one of the ship’s cannons confirmed that yes, Platte was indeed under attack by The Defender. Silly name for a pirate ship, in Pidge’s opinion, but it could be exactly what they needed right now. With escape by air and land blocked off and the net closing in, well, the sea made an awfully appealing choice when it was the only option left. The booted footsteps were running past them now, hurrying towards the point where the ship looked like it’d be making contact, and Pidge hesitated.

They could run now, escape while the cops were preoccupied and find somewhere to lay low until this all blew over, keep close to home with their friends and family. Put everyone at risk just because they didn’t want to leave the only place they’d ever called home. Pidge gritted their teeth and pushed off of the container they’d been braced against, making a beeline for the commotion near the waterline. Several containers had been blasted open, and it looked like someone had been crazy enough to fit a sailing ship with an industrial _tractor beam_ the way it was sucking things in. That could not possibly be any sort of safe.

They pushed the thought from their mind though as they approached the scrum, eyes flicking side to side as they calculated their odds. Going around would take longer, and leave them far more open to being shot, especially if they misjudged the pirates’ speed and the boat shoved off before they could scramble aboard. Through it was, then. They activated their energy blades, keeping the grapple part disengaged for the moment, and charged in with a roar. A normal taser or set of electrified brass knuckles did nothing against the cops, but if you could get through their insulating body armour things got a hell of a lot easier. Pidge slashed and shocked their way into the heart of the fight, doing their best to keep headed towards the signature golden sails hung high above the Defender, but this sort of thing had never been their forte.

They ducked a swing at their neck, jabbed forward at the cop’s thigh and got enough of a current through to make them stagger. Not down, or out, but off-balance. It was enough to swing their shoe up against the officer’s crotch, and once the cop doubled over they brought both hands down on their head. One less threat to deal with.

A loud horn rang out over the din of the fight, and Pidge spun to look in the direction it’d come from. The shore? No, the _Defender_. They’d bet anything that was a warning horn, but for how long? Their train of thought was derailed by a blow to their shoulder, and they spun to lash out at the cop behind them. Their blade caught on the cop’s shoulder, sending the officer staggering sideways, and they kicked out at the nearest knee to send them toppling. Spinning on their heel, they brought their blade up into the armpit of the next nearest officer’s raised arm. The cop jolted, but before they could kick out a knee or go for the groin a shining white staff sparking with blue arcs of electricity around the end slammed into the side of their head.

The cop dropped like a sack of bricks, and Pidge’s jaw fell open at the sight of the woman who’d dropped them. White hair cascaded around her dark, beautiful face in tight braids decorated with glittering, blade-edged beads. A sleeveless rose gold shirt clung tight to her torso, shimmering more golden in places as her chest heaved. Pale belts sat across her hips and over one leanly muscled shoulder, and from under the belt on her hips hung a blue skirt slit high up both sides to reveal leggings which matched her shirt.

“Who are you?” she snapped, and Pidge shook themself out of their thoughts.

“Platte City’s most wanted.” they grinned. “Got any openings on the crew?”

“Depends.” the pretty pirate flashed them a grin. “What are you good at?”

“Computers.” Pidge raised their chin with their most Lance-like smirk. The pirate looked down at them for a moment, pink eyes sharp and calculating, then grinned.

“Follow me.” she gestured, and Pidge nodded resolutely. The pirate immediately turned to start beating her way back to the boat, and Pidge engaged the grappling function on their energy blades. A few well-aimed launched blades later and they were free of the scrum, more pirates falling in step with them as they ran for the Defender. “Zethrid, catch!” the pretty pirate shouted, and Pidge yelped as strong hands grabbed them under the arms to toss up at a very, _very_ buff woman with vibrantly purple hair not much longer than their own but also not half shaved off.

“Count off!” she hollered as Zethrid set Pidge down on the floor, and the air filled with a rapid-fire volley of numbers from one up through ten. A tanned hand grabbed them by the arm, and Pidge yelped as they were hauled over to a set of ropes hanging down next to a lattice of heavy-duty cables.

“You, haul this ‘til I say stop.” a woman with dark hair snapped, and Pidge held tight to the rope shoved in their hands. “Loose the squares, bracing starboard tack!” she shouted over her shoulder to the rest of the boat, and when she started pulling on the other two ropes Pidge threw their whole weight into moving the one in their hands. It barely budged, and in no time at all the dark-haired pirate had snagged it from them to yank a few times until they were satisfied. “You, sit there.” she snapped, pointing at a crate in the back. “Stay out of the way.”

Pidge nodded quickly, and hurried to obey faster than they’d done for anyone but their parents since they were old enough to read. The din of loud voices washed over them as they clutched at their chest, head spinning. The boat rocked almost violently under them as they passed out of the harbor into the open ocean, and they swallowed a near-hysterical laugh. They’d done it, they’d escaped Platte City. They had nothing but the tech on their wrists and clothes on their back, but that was okay. Everything else, their friends could keep hold of until the search had died down enough for them to return. Pidge shut their eyes, tilted their head back, and revelled in the warm sunlight that bathed their face.

\---

“So.”

Pidge looked away from the city retreating towards the horizon, and found the pretty pirate from earlier standing over them. “So.” they repeated, and the pirate cracked a small smile.

“My name is Allura Macrinus, I’m captain of this vessel.” she held out a hand, and Pidge kept their face carefully neutral. They’d not noticed in the chaos of the fight, but this lady had a New Aletian accent. Not many left Aletia or its colonies, and from what they’d heard there wasn’t much reason for them to. At least, not much that’d draw them to this sorry part of the world.

“Pidge.” they gripped her hand firmly, smiling back. “Pidge Gunderson, best hacker north of the Razortips.”

“Modest, I see.” Allura’s smile widened, and Pidge’s heart fluttered in their chest. _Damn_ but she was pretty. “My mate tells me you’re not much for line handling.”

Mate? Pidge tried to keep their expression neutral, but Allura must’ve read something in it because she giggled and pulled Pidge up to their feet like it was nothing.

“Mate as in her position on the crew.” she clarified.

“Ah. I’ve, uh, never really been on a boat before.” Pidge admitted, stumbling slightly as the floor moved under their feet.

“Oh, that’s alright.” Allura waved dismissively. “You said you’re good with computers. In what capacity?”

“Uh, mostly software, programming and hacking and stuff.” they explained, eyes drifting to the front of the boat where a number of women were picking ropes up off the floor and making loops of them in their hands. “I’m not half bad at hardware though. Designed these babies myself.” they pulled their gaze back to Allura as they held up their hands and wiggled their fingers.

“Quite impressive.” Allura nodded. “How much would you say you know about generators, batteries, and electrical systems?”

Pidge grimaced and made a wiggly hand gesture. “Not that much? I learn fast though.”

“Good enough.” Allura beamed and slapped a hand on their shoulder. “Romelle!” she shouted forward, and a blonde turned towards them.

“Aye, Cap’n?”

Allura gestured for Romelle to come back, and Pidge snuck a glance at the wheel. It seemed to be steering itself, some sort of autopilot perhaps? Could ships even have that?

“Romelle, show Pidge the engine room.” Allura ordered, and Romelle lit up. “Tools, manuals, everything she needs to know.”

“Yes.” Romelle pumped their fist once, and grabbed Pidge by the wrist. “Engine room’s this way, I’ll get you set right up.”

“Lead the way.” Pidge laughed, and let themself be pulled along. This was definitely not how they’d thought today would go. It was infinitely better.

\---

Pidge slammed the binder of manuals down on the table opposite Allura’s seat. “How long has it been since this ship had a half decent engineer?” they demanded. Allura looked up, and the smirk that teased at her lips threw Pidge near completely off-guard.

“Why do you ask?”

“Because I want to know how many interim engineers to _strangle_ for the state of this ship.” they snarled, slapping their hand down on the binder. “Half the wires in the engine room are unsupported, not chafe protected, or neither. Most of the cables for the front sails-”

“The jibs or the squares?” Allura set down her pen, and Pidge faltered for a moment under the full force of her attention.

“The uh, the big ones. Squares.” they shook their head slightly and took a steadying breath. Now was not the time to have what Matt always called a ‘useless gay moment’. “Anyway, those big cables that bring in all the power from the solar sails? The whole thing’s held together by _tape_ , and _at least_ four joints are worn thin to the point of sparking when someone climbs the starboard side.”

“Alright.” Allura looked back at her notebook, picking her pen back up. “Get me a list of what you need, lengths and everything, and we’ll grab some from the next port we hit.”

“Wha- really?” Pidge blinked, caught off guard.

“I take the safety of my crew quite seriously, Pidge.” Allura looked up, ,another one of those secret little smiles playing across her face. “And the opinion of my engineer means just as much as that of my bosun.”

“Oh.” Pidge felt their cheeks flushing, and quickly looked away as they scooped up the binder to their chest. “Uh, thank you, Captain.” they said awkwardly, and turned to leave.

“Allura is fine, you know.” she said as Pidge reached for the handle on the watertight door.

Pidge’s cheeks burnt hotter, and they heard Allura giggle as they slipped out of the aft cabin and shut the door behind themself. _That_ conversation was going to be replaying in their head for a while now.

\---

“Pidge, Pidge!” Plaxam called from up on the foredeck, waving them over. They rolled their eyes but headed up to the front of the boat, tucking their datapad back in their pocket.

“ _Please_ don’t tell me you found another wire that’s going to electrocute someone.”

“Alright, I won’t tell you.” Plaxam grinned cheekily. Pidge facepalmed. “Kidding, kidding!” she laughed, slinging an arm around Pidge’s shoulders. “I wanted you to see this.” she pulled Pidge around to face the front of the boat. Pidge blinked at the sight of unbroken horizon, unimpressed.

“The ocean?” they asked flatly.

“No, silly.” Plaxam ruffled their hair, then forced their head down. “The dolphins!”

Pidge’s eyes widened, and they took a small step forward to grab onto the H-bit for balance as they leaned over to look at what must’ve been at least half a dozen silvery creatures in the Defender’s bow wake. They looked very little like the lethargic creatures which had lived in the city’s aquarium when they were young, and Pidge wondered briefly what had become of those dolphins when the place closed down.

“Now that we’re out away from shore, we’ll be getting them daily.” Plaxam said, perching on the other side of the H-bit and smiling down at the dolphins. “You ever seen a dolphin before, squirt?”

“My name’s Pidge.” they grumbled, though it was a futile effort. Zethrid had pronounced them Squirt their first night aboard, and the nickname had stuck fast. “And, sorta? There were a few at the aquarium, but it closed when I was little. These ones...” they trailed off into silence, watching the dolphins tumble and roll around each other, occasionally popping up out of the swell of water the Defender displaced with her motion.

“It never gets old.” Plaxam sighed, swinging one heel against the deck with a wistful look in her eye.

“I bet.” Pidge murmured, and slowly moved to kneel at the very edge of the deck, hands braced on the bowsprit. Behind their back, though they couldn’t see it, Plaxam smiled fondly.

\---

“What do you know about navigation?” Zethrid asked when Pidge stumbled up from belowdecks for their first night watch.

“Uhh, use a GPS?” they guessed, and Zethrid laughed.

“Cute.” she slapped a hand down on Pidge’s shoulder and grinned sharply at them. “We don’t use GPS, can’t afford to be tracked.”

“So, wait, how do we know where we are? Where we’ve been going?” Pidge frowned, looking over at the wheel and the fancy compass.

“That’s what I’m about to show you.” Zethrid grinned, and pulled out-

“That’s an astrolabe!” Pidge straightened, and Zethrid raised an eyebrow at them. “My brother loved astronomy, he taught me all sorts of things about the stars.” they tilted their head back, and their breath caught in their throat.

“Damn sight better than what you can see from shoreside, innit?” Zethrid smiled down at them. “I take it you know how to read one of these?”

“Sorta.” Pidge accepted the metal disc as it was handed to them, spinning the arm on the front idly with one finger. “I don’t know which star to aim it at, though. Well, I know in _theory_ but Matt’s star charts never showed...” they gestured at the sky overhead, littered with stars and cut through by what must’ve been the Milky Way.

“Yeah, star charts are lame like that.” Zethrid nodded. “But that’s why Cap’n’s got me teaching you.” she patted Pidge on the back hard enough to make them stagger, and laughed when they had to grab the railing for support. “So, how about you point out the constellations you can find, and I’ll tell you if you fuck up.”

Pidge huffed, but kept one hand around the burnished brass disc as they looked up at the mess of stars overhead. They turned slowly in place, and after a few seconds lifted a hand to point. “There’s Orion.”

“He’s a gimme.” Zethrid snorted. Pidge rolled their eyes.

“There’s Gemini and Taurus.” they gestured at the spots where they knew the zodiac constellations had to be, though it was hard to tell their component stars from the rest of the sparkly little lights up in the night sky. “And then...” they stepped back towards the helm, checking the direction they were looking. “There’s the dippers.”

“Not bad.” Zethrid grinned, and this time Pidge was prepared for the heavy hand that patted them on the back of the shoulder. “Now, put that astrolabe to work and I’ll teach you the math to turn it into a latitudinal positioning.”

“You made that word up.” Pidge accused, even as they traced a line from the cup of the big dipper to the handle of the little one with their eyes.

“Absolutely not.” Zethrid grinned. “Look it up yourself if you don’t believe me.”

“Maybe I will.” Pidge fired back, and lifted the astrolabe to their face. Matt would be so jealous if he could see them now.

\---

Pidge hissed as they pricked their finger with the needle _again_ sticking the injured finger in their mouth. “Do I _have_ to learn how to sew?” they whined as Narti dragged their hand back down to the fabric in their lap and guided it through another few stitches.

“Yes.” Romelle answered without looking up from where she was embroidering something on the hem of her stained and patch-riddled apron. “You’re going to be the one helping Krolia fix the sails if they take a beating in a fight.”

Pidge groaned and looked down at their assigned garment again. A blouse, low-cut and violently pink, with a large gash and faint remnants of a bloodstain across one side. “Whose even is this?”

“Cap’n’s.” Romelle chirped, and Pidge stabbed their finger again. Narti’s shoulders shook in a silent laugh. Pidge flipped her off.

“Guess she’s too busy to fix her own stuff.” they mused, and in their peripheral vision Romelle nodded.

“She’s got a whole ship to run, after all.”

They lapsed back into silence, and after a few more corrections Pidge felt like they were getting pretty good at this whole sewing thing. Or at least, better about not stabbing their fingers. Narti started whistling as she finished up the pair of pants she was mending, and Romelle giggled at a particularly sharp note.

“What’s that song?” Pidge asked after a few repetitions of the simple melody.

“Haul Her Away. It’s sorta our favourite song, as a crew.” Romelle shrugged, making off her thread and snipping the remainder free.

“Never heard of that one.” Pidge mused, and their fingers twitched before they remembered that they weren’t wearing their gauntlets anymore. The rings pinched too badly while hauling on lines, and the sea spray wasn’t particularly kind to the tech regardless. Figuring out how to seal their implants had been... fun.

“We can teach you!” Romelle straightened up, a bright smile overtaking her face.

“You really don’t ha-”

“Nonsense.” Romelle waved her free hand dismissively, tucking her needle back in the pincushion at her side. “Narti, if you would?”

Narti nodded and started whistling again, this time also stomping one of her bare heels gently against the floor in time. Romelle joined in on the stomping after a line, and Pidge rolled their eyes but joined in as well. Pirates were so weird.

Pidge nodded, and Romelle started to sing, her voice shifting tone every few words.

“Clever Narti Racket - _Haul her away!_ Pawned off my best jacket - _Haul her away!_ And she tossed the ticket - _Haul her away!_ And a hauley high-o! _Haul her away!_ ” she sang the last words more forcefully, and her and Narti stopped stomping their feet as Narti stopped whistling. Pidge, caught off-guard, brought their foot down one more time before stopping and blushed as the grins directed their way.

“Lil warning would be nice.” they muttered, and Narti patted them on the knee.

“All the verses go like that.” Romelle said, still smiling wide. “And each of us on the crew either came up with our own, or had one made for us after we joined. It’s typically Cap’n who starts us off, and then each of us joins in after our own verse. Zethrid came up with my verse, just for the record.”

Narti’s reaction was silent, but Pidge would’ve bet anything that she just sniggered.

“So, that’s how you joined?” they asked Narti after a moment of thought. “You got press-ganged after stealing Romelle’s jacket?”

Narti shook her head and tapped Pidge’s knee. Or rather, the shirt still spread over their lap.

“You stole _Allura’s_ jacket?” they asked incredulously, and Narti nodded.

“You should ask Cap’n about it sometime.” Romelle advised, her smile faded to an almost mischievous grin. “The story’s hilarious.”

“I’m not sure I trust your word on that.” Pidge deadpanned, and both pirate ladies cracked up.

“You’re adorable.” Romelle beamed, sitting back against the wall. “Do you want to learn the rest of the verses?”

Pidge frowned, then after a few seconds of thought nodded. “I think I would, yeah.”

“Take it away, Narti.” Romelle gestured grandly, and Pidge smiled a little as she began to sing again. Apart from the sewing, this whole pirate thing was pretty fun.

\---

“So.” Allura leaned on the rail next to Pidge, and they barely hid their startle as a stumble when a swell made the Defender rock. “We’re making harbour tonight.”

“Making port?” Pidge frowned up at their captain, who gave them a gentle smile.

“Not all cities have such tightly guarded coastlines as Platte. Olokri has a harbour which is open to all, so long as you have cash to pay for a bouy.”

“Oh.” Pidge looked back out at the horizon, eyes on the incoming weather. It probably wouldn’t be too bad, the barometer was dropping pretty slowly, but they weren’t looking forward to a rainy watch.

“You’re more than welcome to stay, if you wish.” Allura’s voice was soft, only barely louder than the waves shushing on the hull. “We could use a mind as brilliant as yours.”

Pidge felt their cheeks heat, and then blushed hotter when Allura tilted their chin up with one gentle, calloused hand, turning their face towards her. “I can’t.” they whispered. “My friends, the rebels...”

“Will survive without you, I’m sure.” Allura’s hand slid up to caress their cheek, fingers brushing through the fuzz of hair growing out around their implants. “Please, Pidge? For me?”

Pidge swallowed hard and turned their head away from Allura’s hand, looking back out to sea. “I want to.” their fingers curled around the edge of the railing, clutching tight as if it could steady the maelstrom in their heart. “Allura, I _want_ to, but I shouldn’t. I’m a hacker, not an engineer. I barely know what I’m doing here. I-”

Allura silenced them with a finger across their lips, and Pidge looked over to see her wearing a small, fond smile. “I understand.” she reached up to her neck and pulled free a blue crystal pendant which fairly glowed in the afternoon light. “When I was your age, I believed something very similar. I thought that my life would best be spent in service of the man who gave me this.” her fingers closed around it, thumb rubbing over the chain. “My father, my Captain, he was a good man. He encouraged me to set out and become my own woman, become who I am today.” she lifted the pendant back up and tucked it inside her shirt once more. “Think about it, Pidge. Pirates take what we want, regardless of what others think.”

And with that, she turned and walked off. Pidge watched her sway easily across the deck to the forward shrouds, watched her swing up onto them and begin to climb to the working top where Krolia was fiddling with the harness for one of the stays’ls. They turned back to looking out at the ocean and chewed on their lip, contemplating. Stay here, or go home?

\---

“A toast.” Allura raised her glass, a flush on her cheeks form the alcohol and a carefree grin on her face from, well, Pidge wasn’t sure if that was the alcohol as well or if the captain was as susceptible to the mood as the rest of them. “To our _lovely_ little engineer.”

Pidge blushed, ducking their head as they took another sip of the cider Ezor had pressed into their hand. because apparently pirates didn’t give a shit about drinking age, which honestly shouldn’t’ve been as surprising as it had been.

“Here here!” the rest of the crew cheered, and Pidge was sure between the alcohol and the embarrassment their whole face was bright red by now.

“Narti, a tune if you would?” Allura stood, setting her mug down as Narti started up that tune from a week or two back. The stomping and table-slamming started up bare seconds after, disordered at first but quickly coalescing into a passable beat. “Clever Narti Racket-”

“Haul her away!” Pidge shouted, their face splitting into a wide grin as everyone else save, of course, Narti herself shouted along.

“Pawned off my best jacket.” Allura hitched her fingers under the lapels of her current open jacket and pulled it out, and Pidge missed their line stifling laughter. “And she tossed the ticket-”

“Haul her away!” they half cheered half sang.

“And a hauley high-o!” Allura spun as they all hollered back at her, stumbling only slightly as she came to a stop pointing at Acxa, whose verse was probably the most interesting one, if only because nobody would talk about what the _fuck_ it meant. “Sharp-eyed Exca Kenmore”

“Haul her away!”

“Kept the Prince’s armour”

“Haul her away!”

“Got lost in the Great War”

“Haul her away!”

“And a hauley high-o!”

“Haul her away!” Pidge punched the air as Allura spun again, Ezor joining in this time to point at the subject of the next verse.

“Stabby Ezor Carson” they sang, and Ezor whipped her knife from its sheath to stab up in the air as Pidge and the rest of them ‘sang’ their line. “Got caught doin’ arson.”

“Haul her away!” Pidge yelled as Ezor laughed. That story, at least, was pretty well common knowledge. Ezor had even seemed pretty proud when she told it to them.

“And fucking the parson.” Zethrid slugged Ezor in the shoulder as they sang their part, and Ezor flashed her girlfriend a roguish grin. “And a hauley high-o!” Acxa and Allura finished. Allura didn’t spin this time, simply moving her finger over to Zethrid.

“Big ol’ Zethrid Skinner”

“Haul her away!”

“Said she’s a beginner”

“Haul her away!”

“Kiss her, ‘Zor, and win her” sang Acxa and Allura, Ezor going silent as she twisted and pulled Zethrid down into a deep, passionate kiss. Narti stopped the tune for a second to wolf-whistle, and Ezor pulled away only as Acxa and Allura finished the verse.

There was a brief almost-silence as Narti took a deep swig of her drink and Ezor re-settled herself snug against her girlfriend’s side, the beat remaining steady but unaccompanied until Zethrid cleared her throat and pointed at their bosun.

“Salty Kro’lia Korban” she sang, her voice rough and slightly out of tune, but who cared about being on-tune in a shanty?

“Haul her away!” Pidge shouted, lifting their own glass to take a drink after. It burned going down, but they were sorta getting used to the feeling.

“Turned on her ol’ Capt’n” Allura’s voice had a teasing lilt to it as she planted one hand on the table and swayed closer to Krolia, who simply rolled her eyes and took another sip of her brightly coloured drink.

“Haul her away!”

“Lookin’ for her lost son”

“Haul her away!”

“And a hauley high-o!”

“Haul her away!” Pidge punched the air, and Florona caught them as they tilted sideways, to giggles form some of the more sober crewmembers.

“Perky Romelle Dawson” Krolia took the lead this time, slinging an arm around the waist of the cook in question.

“Haul her away!”

“Well she got a notion” she leaned in, and Pidge couldn’t help but giggle at the building blush on Romelle’s pale cheeks.

“Haul her away!”

“For a poor old bosun”

“Haul her away!”

“And a hauley high-o!” Krolia tugged Romelle in for a quick kiss on the nose as soon as her line was done, and even as the rest of them cheered their verse Romelle was joining the others in pointing at the next target.

“Bloody Nyma River” they sang together, and Nyma folded an arm behind her head as she leaned back with a smug smile.

“Haul her away!”

“Never was a giver”

“Nope!” Nyma interjected as the rest of them recited their line, her addition fitting in as smoothly as if it had been written into the song.

“Drank away her liver” Nyma raised her mug with a wry smile in acknowledgement as they cheered their line. “And a hauley high-o!”

“Haul her away!” Pidge yelled, leaning a little harder on Florona as the leading singers’ fingers swung around to point at her.

“Pretty ‘Rona Rainer”

“Haul her away!”

“She got called a traitor”

“Haul her away!”

“Now she’s out best raider”

“Haul her away!”

“And a hauley high-o!”

“Haul her away!” Pidge raised their glass and took another drink as Florona pushed them off her shoulder to lean back against the wall behind her. The nice, cool, not-moving wall.

“Charmin’ Plaxam Rainer.” Florona crooned, soft enough Pidge wasn’t sure they would’ve heard her over the others if they hadn’t been sitting next to her.

“Haul her away!”

“Caught up by a trader” one of her hands landed on her wife’s wrist, encircling the faint scar there.

“Haul her away!”

“We helped ‘Rona save her” Zethrid bellowed, drowning out everyone else to much giggling. “And a hauley high-o!” Allura’s voice rose high above the rest, and her piercing pink eyes landed on Pidge in an unspoken question. They took a breath, and nodded. Allura raised her arm and pointed at them, and the table fell nearly silent as Pidge stood up, hands on the table for balance because _wow_ the ship was really rolling tonight.

“Nimble Pidgey Gunder” they sang, only half aware of the responding line being called out. “World was torn asunder”

“Haul ‘em away!” the whole rest of the crew cheered, and Pidge grinned as they leaned forward on their hands.

“Now they’re off to plunder”

“Haul ‘em away!”

“And a hauley high-o!” they whooped, joined by the whole rest of the crew as they punched the air and fell back into their seat.

“Swarthy ‘Lura Macrin” Nyma belted out as Narti whistled the next line of the melody, and Pidge noticed Allura was grinning almost bashfully as everyone else shouted the responding line.

“Grew up in the rattl’n’s” Acxa grinned, slugging their captain in the shoulder.

“Haul her away!” Pidge shouted without even thinking about it, mind whirling.

“Set out to be a Captain” Krolia sang, her arm still snug around Romelle’s waist.

“Haul her away!” Pidge sang, and Florona hooked an arm through theirs as everyone joined together. “With a hauley high-o!” they shouted, and broke into a wordless cheer. Pidge stood from their seat as everyone else devolved into spirited laughter, and the deck seemed to move beneath their feet as they rounded the table to where Allura sat, flushed and smiling and so, _so_ beautiful. They fell down onto the bench next to her, and she turned to look at them with wide eyes and an open smile that made Pidge’s heart leap in their chest.

“You’re staying.” she murmured, lifting a hand to cup Pidge’s cheek again.

“You asked.” Pidge whispered in reply, and they weren’t sure which one of them leaned in first but the flash of warmth that flooded through their body at the press of Allura’s lips against their own was more than enough to drive any sort of musing on that topic form their mind. In the end, it really hadn’t been much of a choice at all.


End file.
